-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The introductions at BlogHer , the largest conference in the world for women in social media , tend to go something like this :

`` WellConnectdMom , so great to meet you , '' I said to a blogger whom I knew only by her Twitter handle .

`` KellyWallaceTV , great to meet you too , '' she replied , using my Twitter handle .

That type of exchange happens hundreds , maybe thousands , of times at this conference , which opened Friday in Chicago . The chance to meet online connections in person is part of the reason women from all over the world gather for the two-day event . They also come to network , build potential business partnerships and burnish their brands overall .

`` Well Connected Mom '' Lori Cunningham expects to meet at least 200 people this year , her third BlogHer conference . She 'll contact many of them when she returns home to continue networking and building upon common interests .

`` It just is an opportunity to open a door that you would n't have if you did n't come to a BlogHer conference , '' said Cunningham , a mother of two from Los Angeles whose blog focuses on simplifying technology for women .

For first-time BlogHer attendees like Chicagoan Jamie Jensen , the goal is to build her blog , For Love of Cupcakes , into a full-time job that she can run as a `` work-at-home mom . ''

`` I 'm hoping to just keep growing to where it can be a part-time income or eventually a full-time income , '' said Jensen , the mother of a 2-year-old girl , who works outside the home as a day-care teacher .

BlogHer is more than a conference . It 's also a major cross-platform business that hosts 3,000 blogs and helps many more expand their reach through education and networking opportunities . The BlogHer publishing network has generated $ 25 million for about 5,000 female writers over the past four years , said BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone .

Most bloggers use this income to support their work and pay for business expenses ; others use it to supplement their household income and support their families , she said .

Businesses understand the power of female bloggers , judging by the more than 130 brands -- from Coca-Cola to Samsung -- in attendance . And yet , mainstream media seem to marginalize what these women are doing .

Take a Wall Street Journal story this year that depicted blogger conferences as opportunities for women to party away from their husbands and kids .

`` The sheer power of women on the Web is so clear statistically , and yet there is some ongoing prevailing effort to belittle that leadership , '' Stone said , citing stats showing women are 41 % more likely to use social media than men .

`` Good luck trying to put women who blog into a bell jar , '' Stone said . `` They are going to ooze right out over the top and explode right in your face . ''

Still , among the public , there seems to be a lack of understanding of what a blogger is , says Amanda Rodriguez , a mom of three boys and host of Dude Mom .

Rodriguez , who is speaking on a panel this weekend , said she recently attended an event sponsored by the National Football League where no one seemed to understand what she did as a blogger . It 's the same response she says she gets when she reveals her profession to people at airports or in the doctor 's office .

`` I think there 's just a misconception about what bloggers do . They all think we 're either like Perez Hilton or whatever random mommy blogger that they have read about on Oprah.com , '' the Frederick , Maryland , mom said .

`` So I think it 's up to us to sort of work really hard to change that perception , '' she said . `` Hopefully other people will start to give the career a little more credence . ''

The BlogHer Conference , now in its ninth year and profiled recently in USA Today , aims to help by bringing attention to what female bloggers do .

Big-name speakers also help . Last year , President Obama gave a keynote via video conference . This year 's closing keynote speaker is Sheryl Sandberg , chief operating officer of Facebook and author of the much-talked-about book `` Lean In . ''

Mainstream America may not understand the power and influence of bloggers . But parents who share tips about products or advice for getting kids to behave see the blog community as an extension of those support networks , said Cunningham .

There is another power that has nothing to do with educating the public . It has to do with women connecting with other women in ways they ca n't connect with their friends .

First-time conference attendee Sarah Evans hosts the blog It 's a Vol , based on her love of the University of Tennessee Volunteers . She suffered from postpartum depression after her daughter was born . The women she met online , many of whom she is meeting for the first time at BlogHer , saved her , she says .

`` When I had postpartum depression , there was nobody in my physical life at that point in time who could say ' I know what you went through , ' '' Evans said .

Through the BlogHer community , she met others who could relate to what she was going through and shared their experiences on their blogs .

`` You can say , ` Look at this mother . She 's fantastic . She made her way through this , ' '' she said . `` I feel like that right now , and I can get through that . I can get to that point , too . ''

The value of such a connection ? Priceless .

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Bloggers gather in Chicago for two-day conference for women in social media

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Annual conference provides networking and educational opportunities

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`` I think there 's just a misconception about what bloggers do , '' Dude Mom Amanda Rodriguez says